Fall of the Angels
by 3KP-3vil.Kitty.Productions
Summary: This is a revision of a scene from the game. Instead of Tifa helping Cloud to face who he truly is, Cloud must do it virtually alone, with only the ghosts of his past for help.


This is an alternate version of what Cloud goes through, after the WEAPONS have been released from Crater, and he has to come back to consciousness. Instead of falling into the Lifestream with Tifa, when Ultima WEAPON attacks Mideel, Cloud falls in alone and has to come face to face with his ghosts...  
  
I think this part of the story will be purely clean, except for language. That means no lemon or lime or sexual implications at all. I'm trying to keep my mind out of the gutter I love so much for this story. I probably will make this a Sephiroth/Cloud, just because most of my work ends up like that or with Sephiroth/Xellis but it's easier for readers to relate to previously existing characters... So, S/C it is!   
  
On with the fic!  
  
Chapter ICHI: How the Mighty Have Fallen  
  
Cloud was in his unconscious daze still. It had been a week but he was still... not himself. But Tifa would not give up on him, could not give up on him. She cared too much for him to do that. She had so much hope still that he would open his eyes eventually and be himself again, the Cloud she had begun to really know and care for. Then it happened. For one fleeting moment, Cloud's eyes filled with awareness and dread, unlike the confused, unawareness that had been his expression just a second ago. "G-get out... It-it's coming." Tifa's hope was rekindled as she gazed into the knowing eyes of the man she wanted to be with for the rest of her life. Then he was gone as quickly as he had returned. The ground began to shake, though, which grabbed the majority of Tifa's attention. The doctor and nurse ordered her to evacuate to higher ground with Cloud and she did, pushing him in his wheel chair out of the small clinic. But the ground split open before them and as Tifa suddenly stopped, Cloud was flung from the chair, into the Lifestream which was welling up out of the planet.   
  
"CLOUD!" She would have gone in after him but the doctor and nurse held her back. She could only watch with tears springing up in her vision, burning her eyes and blurring her sight, as Cloud was plunged head first into the lifeblood of the planet. "It'll kill him! I have to save him!" But they kept her from jumping in after him.  
  
It was warm. For the first time in five years, Cloud felt warm and safe. He reveled in the feeling, wanting to feel it forever. "I'm sorry, Cloud. But you're going to have to wake up. There is much to do... You have to rediscover yourself before it's too late and I will not let you fail, Cloud. You have suffered enough and so has the one you love. Now wake up, Cloud, and face your demons." It was undeniably a woman's voice that spoke to him but there was no one he could see when his blue eyes snapped open. He was distressed. He didn't want to wake up to be alone. He shook as he felt cold grip his body, fear and despair taking hold in his heart at the realization that he was very much alone.  
  
Then a little girl, who couldn't have been older than seven, with her long black hair done up in pigtails, except for her chin length bangs which fell over her blood red eyes. She wore a black sun dress and a pair of ballet slippers. "But you're not alone. He's been with you ever since that day. He's been with you, protect you and guiding you. But now it's time to let Him go because you don't need Him any longer. It's His time to rest." She said, her eyes looking into his and telling his she was so much more than a child and she was so much more intelligent than he could ever fathom.   
  
It seemed to him that she knew of things about him that even he didn't know. "Who are you?" Cloud felt so much better, confronted by this child than the being that would more fit the entity's greatness and power.   
  
"I am no one. But you can call me Xellis." She smiled sadly. "That's what He used to call me. So it's fitting that you also call me by that name. But it's time for you to learn the truth, not my name."  
  
Cloud fell to his knees to become eye level with the girl. "Who is 'He'? I don't understand." He said, shaking his confused head as if to shake away the thoughts the little girl was trying to put in his head. He didn't know if he wanted to know the truth this girl was offering. What he might learn could be worse than what he already knew. Xellis looked straight into his eyes for the first time and Cloud could see her hurt and her hesitation but he also saw determination. Whatever it was that she had been sent to do, she would do at any cost.   
  
"He's one of the seven Angels that will heal or destroy this planet. He is very important to me. But you are important to both of Us. Cloud, you have to trust me, okay?" Tears shone in her eyes but she kept her gaze level with his.   
  
Cloud nodded, wanting the girl to stop crying. "I trust you, Xellis. I do." He said, putting his hands on her shoulders softly. Cloud's own eyes filled with tears, thought he didn't know why.  
  
The little girl's hand came up and rested on Cloud's cheek. "You're lost, Cloud, but with Our help you will find the way back to who you really are. Then He and you can both be free of the burdens you have placed upon your own shoulders. You must believe in yourself Cloud, you must! Always follow the path that fits you and never forget that you are loved. Those are the only bits of knowledge I can give to you but they are the most important. Save yourself Cloud and by doing that, you'll save Him too." Then she disappeared and Cloud was standing in a place that haunted his nightmares often. It was a place that had once held joy for him but now only held terribly vivid memories of horror and terror. He was standing just inside of Nibelheim and it was quite obvious that it was five years ago.   
  
There with him were four other people. The first was Sephiroth, in all of his sane splendor and his indifference towards everyone was obvious. Next, there was Zack, looking just as happy and carefree as always. Then there was Vincent, looking grim but that's how he always looked. Finally, there was that same little girl, who held Cloud's hand for a moment. "You are connected to these three people by a bond stronger than any physical thing could possibly be. You are connected by the treads of fate. Each have fallen, as you have, and now, they are not the same as they were but neither are you. Remember, they can only tell you their story. Only you can find your true self Cloud and I hope this helps." With that the little girl vanished.  
  
This is only the first part of the first chapter, me being very tired and not having enough energy to type the rest of it right now. Please review! Tell me what you think! Tell me what you want to see! I can probably work it out so that it fits in as long as it's a reasonable request. 


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